Silver Fire
by Dear Pigfarts. Love the Doctor
Summary: Hermione decides to try a potion and manages to rope Neville, Harry, and Ron into a very, very strange situation. One they may not be prepared for.


**Silver Fire**

Her wand twirled in circles as she magically stirred the potion. The darkly lit room was stuffy; chemicals and ingredients filling the atmosphere as she worked. Her brown eyes stared at the recipe, reading and re-reading over and over. She couldn't make a mistake.

Sweeping back her overly fuzzy brown hair, Hermione rubbed her brow, sweat gleaming on every inch of exposed skin. She was so focused on her work that she did not hear the door to the dungeon open, an unexpected guest rushing in. She added the final ingredient and the potion began glowing. The room was filled with a blue glimmering light; every inch of the dark chamber was covered. The intruder turned, his eyes widening as he stared at the cauldron, and then they moved up to where Hermione stood, her eyes fixed on the bubbling liquid.

"Hermione!" Neville yelled, reaching out his hand to her. She continued to stare, as if she could not hear anything he screamed.  
"Hermione, what is this?!" Behind her the door opened once more and two more boys piled in. One with flame red hair and the other with eyes of emerald green.  
"Hermione?" They both called, their eyes darting from her to Neville to the potion.  
"Neville? Neville, what happened?!" Harry yelled as the potion began to swirl, creating some sort of wind, a spiral of it reaching the ceiling.  
"I don't know!" The other Gryffindor roared back, his eyes wide with fear. The three boys watched as Hermione's potion started to flow over the sides of the cauldron, the glowing liquid rushing across the floor. Neville jumped to the nearest table, pulling his knees to his chest to escape the flood of colour. Ron copied this action and could only watch as Harry surged forward – towards Hermione.

Her feet were now an inch deep in the crystalline azure potion and her eyes were unfocused. Harry could not breathe as the potion continued to fill the room, the air gushing from the cauldron was suffocating him as he stood before Hermione. He tried to call her name, but his breath caught in his throat. Instead he placed his hands on her arms, shaking her in an attempt to gain her attention.  
"Harry! What is that potion?!" Ron called, his red hair whipping about his face in the increasingly strong winds. Harry turned back to the cauldron, his eyes glowing in the light. He saw the book lying beside the cauldron and lifted it from the pooling liquid.

 _'_ _Viventium Elementius'_

Harry stared at the page for a few moments before throwing the book at Ron, the wind still making it hard for him to speak.  
"'Viventium Elementius'? The Living Elements?! What was she trying to do?" Ron hollered. The wind was becoming deafening as it swirled around Harry, and the potion at his feet had reached his calf. Neville was staring at Hermione, his face pale. Suddenly his eyes darted to the door behind her.  
"There are people there!" Neville yelled, and then before anyone else had reacted he screamed:  
"HELP!"

Ron dropped the spell book, completely forgetting it as he followed Neville's plan.  
"HELP!" They all screamed as loud as they could. "HELP!" The door looked as though a battering ram was hitting it over and over, but it did not budge.  
"HELP!" There was a loud bang from behind Harry and suddenly the wind threw him into the wall. He looked behind him at the others.

 _Neville was on the ground, his hands supporting him as he stared at the cauldron._

 _Ron was shielding his eyes from the light, his hair going crazy in the wind._

 _Hermione's socks were drenched as she stood in the deepest part of the clear blue potion._

Harry was closer to the door now, and he could hear the screams of the people outside. He thought he could hear Professor McGonagall and Snape, as well as Malfoy who had been pursuing them – he was the reason they had found Hermione.

The light suddenly flashed, the cauldron over flowing with the most beautiful silvery fire and then everything went black.

Harry awoke against the cold stone wall, his head aching. He opened his complaining eyes and glanced around the room. As soon as he could move he was beside Hermione, his hands supporting her as she sat up. The liquid on the floor had disappeared; there was no sign of it as he helped her to her feet. Across the room Ron and Neville were staring at each other, their mouths hanging open.  
"What the bloody hell!" Ron said far too loudly; none of them used to the quiet now that the tornado of wind seemed to be gone. He was pointing at Neville's forehead. Harry thought it was strange that he missed the glowing blue letters until now, but as he stared at his friends' forehead, it was all he could see. Just then he realised that Hermione had the same glowing script and, as Ron turned to him, Harry saw he had it as well.  
"Harry, it's on your head too!" Ron called, his eyes panicked. Hermione was staring. She hadn't said a word since it happened, her hands clasped firmly around Harrys.  
" _Aeris_ ," She uttered her eyes wide. Harry looked back at her, frowning.  
"Aeris?"

Upon closer inspection, Harry found that Hermione's word said _Aqua_ , and Harry recognised that as the Latin word for –  
"Water?" Neville asked, coming to sit beside them. His forehead was filled with the word ' _Terra'_ , and seconds later Ron arrived to reveal the last word: _Ignis_.  
"What do these words mean?" Ron asked, running his fingers over the glowing blue script partially hidden under his hair; _fire_.  
"I don't know?" Hermione finally admitted, hanging her head slightly. "I'm sorry…"  
"Hermione, what was that spell supposed to do?" Neville asked softly, his voice wavering slightly.  
"I –" just as Hermione went to speak the door burst open in a flurry of wind and dust. Harry coughed, his lungs filling with dust, his eyes watering. McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore rushed in, speaking far too fast for the teens to understand. Harry looked back to his fellow Gryffindors and gasped. _The words were gone._

They were all taken to the Hospital Wing, and the teachers had demanded an explanation. Hermione had told them that she was practicing for the Potions test when the boys had found her and the spell went wrong.  
"Wrong?" Professor McGonagall huffed, "It sounded as though a cyclone was happening in that room." Dumbledore just inspected each of the students silently, his eyes sparkling and his lip upturned, as though he could see something no one else could. Points were taken from their house and Hermione was given detention.  
"Do not do that again!" McGonagall warned, her face stern but still filled with worry.

The adults left them as the sun set, and by curfew they were alone. The Hospital Wing was empty but for the four of them, and Madame Pomfrey had left for dinner – they were alone. Neville twisted in his bed, his feet hanging over the edge.  
"Hermione. What was that potion supposed to do?" He demanded, his face still held traces of fear as he looked at her.  
"It allowed you to creature creatures… with the elements," she began, her voice soft. "You pour it on a rock, and it would turn into a golem – to fight for you."

"Living Elements," Harry whispered. He shuddered as a breeze brushed past his shoulders. Frowning, he got out of his bed and crossed to the window, to close it. But it was already shut. _That was weird,_ Harry thought as he returned to his bed.

Across the room Hermione reached to her night stand for her glass of water. As the cup reached her lips she tipped it back to drain it, but nothing came out. With a shake of her head, she thought: _I must have drunk it already._ She placed the cup back on the table. As her fingers left the glass there was a sloshing noise. She frowned and peered back into the glass. As she did, Hermione saw about an inch of clear liquid. _That was weird._

Ron watched Hermione frown, her eyes darting across the room to connect with his. He went to asked what was wrong when he stopped. Seconds later he sneezed, his eyes closing and the air blowing out of him. Hermione watched from her bed as the candles beside Ron flared to life as he said "ACHOO!" The room around him coming to life with light for that small second. _Weird!_

Finally Neville had had enough. He was starving and he needed some dinner. He hoped down off his bed, but as soon as his feet hit the floor it shook. The whole ground seemed to shift under his bare toes and he stared, wide-eyed, at the rest of them.  
"That was _weird_!"

Suddenly Hermione had a guess as to what happened when the potion exploded, as to why they had those Latin words etched into their foreheads in the same colour. The potion didn't go wrong, it just did something else.  
"This might be hard to explain…"

* * *

 **A/N: Words - 1,534**

 **Alchemy – Use the elements in some way. (500)**

 **September Event – 25. (Location) Dungeons**

 **Gringotts: Old –  
( _Story Titles_ ) 5. Silver Fire  
( _Better words for said_ ) 10. Roared  
( _Better words for said_ ) 9. Uttered  
New –  
( _Colour prompts_ ) 1. Azure  
( _Better than said_ ) 4. Hollered**


End file.
